Trauma Therapy

Trauma Therapy

Living through trauma or abuse is not easy. Surviving trauma or abuse may have felt like a huge struggle, but for many the ongoing struggle has been living with the aftermath, the PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). That’s why there is therapy specifically for trauma.

How do you know if you need trauma counseling? Is this a picture of you?

People who have lived through trauma or abuse may look like this:

They have memories they can’t shake and they yearn to get back to feeling joyful and peaceful

They haven’t told anyone about the abuse or the terrible stuff they witnessed

They have intrusive memories of what happened

They try to avoid things that make them think about the trauma or abuse

They feel upset inside when they remember what happened

They often think no one will understand them

They worry they are to blame for what happened

They don’t feel comfortable being sexual because of their abuse history

They feel ashamed about what happened

They can’t get past the past

PTSD is a normal reaction to surviving an awful situation

Have you lived through something that you still have bad memories about? Something that still sticks with you, that you don’t want to think about but you can’t erase it from your mind?

Do you wake up having had a crappy night’s sleep due to nightmares and intrusive thoughts and fears. Or do you have trouble remembering their dreams, but wake up not feeling rested or refreshed.

Are you crabby or cranky, tired and feeling fatigued? Do you approach the day with some dread, not sure when you might be triggered? Do you arrange your day to avoid triggers? Do you lose your temper easily or find yourself feeling easily irritable?

You are not alone. Many people who have survived abuse or trauma have these additional symptoms:

They are easily distracted and have a hard time paying attention.

They live with an internal sadness and disconnection to “normal” life because they live with ongoing dread or fear—focused either on the unhappy past events or fearing the bad things they anticipate or fear might happen in the near or far future.

They live with a foreshortened sense of the future.

They don’t believe in the ability to be happy or at ease.

They often self-medicate to numb their PTSD or feelings.

They have unhappy relationships or stressful relationships because they do or don’t want to burden or share what they are struggling with internally.

They feel misunderstood by others so they feel apart from most of the world.

Trauma is more common than most people realize.

Almost half of the children in our country have been exposed to trauma. That is nearly 35 million children. It is especially common for anyone who has grown up in homes where there has been alcohol or drug abuse or dependence, or where there was mental illness.

Both men and women have an almost equally likelihood to have gone through trauma, according to the VA’s National Center for PTSD. They cite “About 6 of every 10 (or 60%) of men and 5 of every 10 (or 50%) of women experience at least one trauma in their lives. Women are more likely to experience sexual assault and child sexual abuse. Men are more likely to experience accidents, physical assault, combat, disaster, or to witness death or injury.”

Researchers know that living through trauma, whether in childhood, or adulthood, can affect a person in significant ways. Normal reactions to trauma can include:

Trouble sleeping

Feeling anxious or moody

Feeling easily angered or reactive

Feeling afraid or fearful

Wanting to isolate

Feeling tired or having low energy

Having trouble concentrating

Not taking as good care of health habits

The good news is that all these symptoms can be temporary and they can change with good trauma treatment.

Sometimes When You Live Through Something Traumatic It Still Has an Effect On You. Trauma Therapy can help you recover and feel good again.

When you are reeling from the aftermath of something traumatic, you might have been told you have PTSD. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a way to describe how people sometimes feel or react to having survived trauma. It does not mean you are reacting wrongly or that you are crazy, although many times clients who have PTSD have told me they felt crazy.

Contrary to what you may think or have heard, PTSD is very treatable. You can begin healing by coming to a therapist like me who has specific training in trauma therapy.

Clients with PTSD/trauma histories are able to learn new skills for reducing anxiety and begin to heal old sorrows and ways to looking at the world. They are given tools in the first session that help ease their self-judgments and reconcile the past so it can start to just feel like an old story, instead of something that still has a grip on them.

Call me today, for a free 15- minute consultation, 407-252-8035. I will answer any questions you have. Know that even if you doubt that things can get better (which is a normal thought, given what you have lived through), I KNOW things can improve. I would not have stayed in their field for over 25 years if I didn’t see clients heal every day and resolve their traumas, anxieties, and fears. You can get better. Call me now to find out how.